What is letter?

This repository is a public letter of support and gratitude addressed to Nikolay Kim, the creator of Actix, a popular web framework used by thousands of Rust developers to build fast, reliable web services. The letter was created in response to Kim's decision to step back from open source work after experiencing sustained harassment from a small group of people in the community. The core message is straightforward: a group of respected developers and community members wanted to publicly acknowledge Kim's significant contributions to Rust and the broader software community, and to express their disappointment that someone who has given so much felt driven away by abuse. The letter emphasizes that open source work should be a positive, welcoming experience, and that harassment has no place in the community. Rather than being a technical project, this repository serves as a historical record and a statement about community values. It documents a moment when members of the Rust community decided to stand up and say that treating contributors with respect matters more than disagreements about code or design choices. The signatories are experienced developers themselves, lending weight to the message. The README also points to related articles expressing similar sentiments from other community figures. The repository is notable because it demonstrates how open source communities can collectively respond to toxicity, not by ignoring it or attacking back, but by clearly stating what kind of environment they want to build together. It's a reminder that technical communities are made up of real people, and that how we treat each other has real consequences for who feels welcome to participate and contribute.